If, like me, you spent far too much time doomscrolling on X after Paris Saint-Germain’s historic demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final, you will have noticed the same few themes popping up on your timeline.
Leading the discourse was the widespread celebration and admiration of PSG’s manager, Luis Enrique, who has shown superhuman resolve and perspective after the death of his nine-year-old daughter Xana from cancer six years ago.
There was plenty said about the sportswashing project that underpinned PSG’s greatest night. Qatar has long been criticised over its human rights record and PSG are owned by Qatar Sports Investment, a subsidiary of the state’s sovereign wealth fund. A win for football indeed, Rio Ferdinand.
And then there were the posts mocking Mikel Arteta over his comments that Arsenal had been the “best team in the Champions League” this season after their semi-final elimination to the Parisians last month.
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“I don’t think there’s been a better team in the competition from what I’ve seen,” Arteta said following Arsenal’s 3-1 aggregate defeat: 1-0 in London, 2-1 in Paris.
He later added, “I am saying that because they (PSG’s staff) just told me that,” a version of events quickly debunked by Enrique.
“Mikel Arteta is a great friend, but I don’t agree at all,” Enrique said. “Arsenal played a great match, and we suffered, but we deserved to get to the final.”
Arteta’s pronouncement seemed blinkered at the time and hasn’t aged well after PSG became the first team in European Cup and Champions League history to win a final by a five-goal margin.
It was a brilliant, brutal performance from a thrilling young side that left absolutely no doubt that PSG are deserving champions of European football’s biggest prize.
"I don't think there's been a better team in the competition so far"
Mikel Arteta speaks on the progress of his Arsenal team, and believes they've been the best team in the Champions League despite losing to PSG
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Arteta is, of course, entitled to his opinion. If he felt that Arsenal were the best team in the competition, it is his prerogative to make that public. However, the body of evidence didn’t justify his claim. Arsenal lost three times in four games against this season’s finalists.
It was the sort of rose-tinted remark you might expect to see on AFTV (formerly Arsenal Fan TV) rather than from the Arsenal manager. Arteta unnecessarily exposed himself to criticism and ridicule.
Arsenal certainly produced good moments and concerted spells of pressure against PSG across both legs.
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They were especially impressive in the first 20 minutes of the return at the Parc des Princes, pressing with the sort of breathless intensity that PSG produced against a weary Inter in Munich.
Had the Gunners been more clinical and Gianluigi Donnarumma not been at the top of his game, things might have panned out very differently. Arsenal out-xG’d PSG in both games.
But PSG were ruthlessly brilliant and could have scored more than the three they managed in London and Paris.
Sometimes in knockout football, the better team doesn’t always win; that didn’t feel like one of those occasions, with PSG edging a competitive tie.
Although it ended before they wanted it to, Arsenal had an excellent European campaign, progressing one stage further than they did the season before.
They certainly would have put up more resistance than Inter managed in the showpiece.
It was Arsenal’s best performance in the Champions League since they finished runners-up to Barcelona in 2005-06. The Gunners reached the semi-finals in 2008-09 but lost by a larger aggregate score of 4-1.
There were plenty of highlights, not least the double-header victory against Real Madrid in the quarters.
The Emirates has never been louder than when Mikel Merino made it 3-0 against the reigning champions after Declan Rice’s incredible free-kick double.
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It was an impressive achievement, not least because they beat Real home and away without their defensive lynchpin, Gabriel Magalhaes and first-choice centre-forward, Kai Havertz.
Other memorable moments included Gabriel Martinelli silencing the Bernabeu, beating PSG in the league phase, Myles Lewis-Skelly’s remarkable emergence on the grand stage and winning five games by three or more goals.
There were plenty of positives for Arteta to take from Arsenal’s season of progress in Europe without needing to go overboard in his praise.
PSG emphatically quashed Arteta’s claims that his side were the best in Europe this season. They did their talking on the pitch, a lesson Arteta and Arsenal can heed as they seek to go one better in Budapest this time next year.
There are plenty of people poised and ready to taunt and mock Arsenal with the club’s trophy drought extending into a sixth year. There’s no need to provide the haters with any additional ammunition.
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